One of our advisers in this work is David Strong of
Phoenix, Arizona, who owns METL, a lab that tests materials for
industry. Dave has been sending me articles from Advanced Materials and Processes,
a
magazine that talks about advances in materials science. In
the
January 2006 issue (page 121) was an article on Toucan beaks.

The Toucan has a beak made of bony fibers and drum head-like
membranes, which are sandwiched between keratin. Keratin is
the
protein that makes up your fingernails and your hair. It is also
found
in the horns of many animals.

In the Toucan beak, the bony fibers are made into a kind of foam
which is very light weight. This material has a hollow space
in
the middle, and it is all held together by the exterior layer of
keratin. When Dr. Marc Meyers ran a computer model of the
beak he
found it was "optimized to an amazing degree for high strength and
very
little weight." He goes on to say, "It's almost as if the
Toucan
has a deep knowledge of mechanical engineering."

It is interesting that, as man's technology continues to grow and
his tools become better and better for evaluating what God has
done in
the creating of His creatures, we find the level of engineering
and
technology is incredibly high. This leads people in
materials
science to continue to look at the world around us and copy the
design
features that are there to make better materials and processes for
our
own well-being. Again and again the message of Romans 1:20 comes
back to
us that we can know there is a God through the things He has made.